A little off topic but: the idea of SEO has always bugged me: like a store owner investing in having really clean windows, but crappy products inside the store.

Admittedly, that is easy for me to say because I don't need high traffic at my site. I need my web site to have a few high value visitors: people who want to work with me or communicate because we are into the same technology. The way I "optimize" my site is writing about what most interests me, and that attracts people with my interests. Seems pretty straight forward to me.